One of my talents is shopping. I know it’s not a spiritual gift or anything, and maybe it doesn’t have a lot of eternal significance, but that doesn’t change that I am really good at shopping. I know how to get the best deal. Give me five minutes and I’ll find you the best price in town or on the Web. I can analyze user reviews and ratings accurately. I know how to find coupons and discount codes without letting the process of acquiring them take over my life. I know products. I know prices. I know deals.
And let’s be honest. Even if you hate shopping or think material items are irrelevant in comparison to eternal matters, you still have to shop. You need clothes, you need food, and you need some kind of device to suck your baby’s boogers out.
So I’m thankful for my talent. It comes in handy almost every day.
Yellow sweatshirt. See below…
For over three years now I’ve been living in the trifecta of happiness when it comes to buying great clothes for a bargain. During my very first year blogging, I stumbled upon a new little web service called Salemarked. It was so brand new that when I blogged about it the first time, the owner personally commented to say thank you. I like to think we’re friends. This company does what other companies, including Pinterest, have started doing as well. They let you know when an item you like has gone on sale. But Salemarked was the first company I know of to offer this service, and they do it well, so I’m loyal to them.
Here’s how it works in real life. You see an item you like, in stores or online, but it’s not something you’re willing to pay full price for {or, if you’re like me, you simply never pay full price for anything, ever}. You look the item up on the store’s website. You see that the dress you love is selling for $70, so you ask Salemarked to notify you when said dress goes on sale for $39.99 or less. If and when this happens, you receive an email to tell you your dress is now on sale and you can easily click to buy it online.
Salemarked is easy to use on your computer. You can see the full directions here, but basically you install a bookmarklet, just like the “pin it” button you’ve probably already added to your browser. As you browse online, you can click your Salemarked button and save the item. You get to choose the price you want to buy it for, and Salemarked will only notify you if it drops below the number you set. Just don’t be ridiculous and ask to buy a $100 jacket for $5. Although I have gotten clothing for 50-60% off many times, I usually choose a price between 30-40% off the full price and wait to see what happens. Sometimes the item will sell out before it ever drops to the price you want, so don’t wait on Salemarked if it’s an item you really need or want to have soon. Sometimes the price will drop within a few weeks, sometimes it’s months, and sometimes it never happens at all. It’s a perfect service to fill in gaps in your wardrobe or home decor if you are willing to wait it out and aren’t dead set on acquiring a very specific item.
Also, Salemarked doesn’t work on every website. But it does work with quite a few great stores. Some of my favorites are: Anthropologie, Crate and Barrel, J.Crew, Etsy, Banana/GAP/Piperlime, Urban Outfitters, and NORDSTROM. {See all the supported stores here.}
Notice above that I said I’ve been living in a trifecta of happiness since discovering this website. A trifecta is, of course, made up of three parties. Myself, Salemarked, and Nordstrom. Together we have a beautiful relationship. Here’s why Nordstrom works so well with Salemarked…
Nordstrom products are fabulous and they don’t look like what everyone else has {which is one reason why I’m always hesitant to shop at places like Old Navy and Target}. Nordstrom products do go on sale. Usually they get marked down twice {to approximately 33% and 40% off} before they get sent to Nordstrom Rack, where they are then discounted to 50% off or more {and you can now buy Rack items online as well}. You can always, always return anything to Nordstrom. Their shipping is always FREE, no matter how big or small your order. And if you notice the price on an item you bought drops again after making your purchase, all you have to do is call Nordstrom customer service and they will instantly refund the difference to you. Nordstrom is the best. Every time they do something great for me, I tweet them to say thanks and they always tweet me back, so we’re basically best friends. See how my relationship with Salemarked and Nordstrom is so sweet?
So let me give you an example of how this works. I’m strolling through Nordstrom on my way into the mall, and I see a cute yellow, floral sweatshirt on a manikin. I have a thing for “fancy” sweatshirts, but I don’t get to wear them often enough in hot Arizona, so it’s definitely not worth the full price of $42.00. Later that day, I look up the product online. I tell Salemarked I would like to be notified when this item drops to $34.99 or less. A few weeks later I get an email telling me this cute sweatshirt is now $25.20, and I quickly order it for 40% off the regular price. It ships to my door within a few days for FREE, and I wear it on a trip to San Diego the following weekend. Thank you Nordstrom. Thank you Salemarked. Thank you manikin in the mall for showing me a cute sweatshirt that I didn’t even bother to try on because I have the most legit shopping trifecta happening in my very own home. P.S. This account is based on a true story.
Micah’s shirt… thanks to Salemarked and Nordstrom!
Salemarked has been helping me fill my closet with bargains for three years now. And it’s been helping fill Micah’s closet as well. Even though Micah hates to shop, he does like being well dressed. Usually I can convince him to peruse the Nordstrom men’s department with me for thirty minutes a few times a year. He will try on a few items for size, buy anything he absolutely loves or that is already on sale for a decent price, and then I “salemark” everything else he liked and wait for it to go on sale. Over the next few months, a few new clothes for him will trickle in as prices drop, without having to overwhelm him with an expensive, time consuming shopping spree.
So Salemarked and Nordstrom… thank you! I love you both and hope we can continue our beautiful relationship for many years to come.
OMG! How did I not know about this amaaaazing site/resource!?!? I'm like you and never buy anything full price. I will be installing that little button on my browser and won't be looking back! Thank you!
This is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! I am very much a bargain shopper, but if I see that something is expensive, I will move on, not even thinking that it might go on sale later. This will be such a great resource for me!
Hi Jen,
Thanks for being a loyal user of Salemarked! I am so happy that it has helped you save lots of money over the years.
Let's be BFF.
Regards,
-koes
I never knew about sale marked! I just stalk my nordstrom finds because like you, I LOVE NORDSTROM. I worked there and unlike most retail places that make you hate the retailer, I just liked them more because they treat their employees–even lowly college sales girls–quite decent.